Are conspiracy theories harmless?

“In other words, combating conspiracy theories is likely to be more successful if the counterarguments come from people who are trusted, such as valued ingroup members (Nisbet, 2009).”

“Conspiracy theories explain significant events and circumstances as the secret and malicious acts of powerful groups (Douglas et al., 2019).”

“Finally, earlier in this article I wrote about the psychological needs that draw people toward conspiracy theories (Douglas et al., 2017).”

“Jolley and Douglas (2014a) found that people who were asked to read anti-government conspiracy theorieswere less inclined to vote in the next election, compared to participants who had been given information refuting those conspiracy theories.”

“For example, Romer and Jamieson (2020) found that belief in COVID–19 conspiracy theories in the U.S. was associated with lower perceived threat of the pandemic, less likelihood of taking preventive action (e.g., wearing a mask), and refusal of a vaccine if one became available.”

“Indeed, they have been linked to non-normative political actions such as protests (Imhoff & Bruder, 2014) and illegal actions such as occupying buildings (Mari et al., 2017).”

“Indeed, conspiracy theories havealways tended to surface in timesof crisis andunrest (van Prooijen & Douglas, 2017).”

“A significant number of studies have shown that conspiracy theories about climate change go hand in hand with science denial more generally (e.g., Lewandowsky et al., 2015; Lewandowsky et al., 2013; Uscinski et al., 2017).”

“Jolley and Douglas (2014a) found that people who were asked to read anti-government conspiracy theorieswere less inclined to vote in the next election, compared to participants who had been given information refuting those conspiracy theories.”

“In online environments where “echo chambers” of conspiracy believers are almost exclusively exposed to conspiracy content, attitudes can become more polarized and extreme (del Vicario et al., 2016; Bessi et al., 2015).”

“For example, people tend to believe conspiracy theories more when they are anxious (GrzesiakFeldman, 2013) and when they feel powerless (Abalakina-Paap et al., 1999).”

“In online environments where “echo chambers” of conspiracy believers are almost exclusively exposed to conspiracy content, attitudes can become more polarized and extreme (del Vicario et al., 2016; Bessi et al., 2015).”

“Imhoff and Lamberty (2020) found that “hoax” conspiracy theories in particular predicted refusal of preventive behaviors, but conspiracy beliefs that the virus is a bioweaponwere associatedwithmore self-centered prepping behavior.”

“For example, Uscinski et al. (2016) included the word “conspiracy” in a survey about media coverage during the 2012 U.S. presidential election.”

“For example, Jolley and Douglas (2017) showed that for anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, pro-vaccine counterarguments were effective in improving intentions to vaccinate if presented prior to the conspiracy theories.”

“Another study has shown that climate change conspiracy theories also reduce intentions to sign a petition to help reduce the impact of global warming (van der Linden, 2015).”

“For example, when people feel uncertain they are more drawn to conspiracy theories (van Prooijen & Jostman, 2013), and conspiracy theories seem to appeal more to people who show a tendency to look for patterns and meaning in chaos (van Prooijen et al., 2018).”

“In one study, Swami (2012) asked Malaysian participants to indicate their belief in conspiracy theories generally, their belief in anti-Jewish conspiracy theories (e.g., that Jews are trying to establish a secret world government), and attitudes towards Israelis amongst other ideological attitudes.”

“Other negative consequences of COVID–19 conspiracy theories include willingness to engage in vandalism of 5G phone masts and violence more generally (Jolley & Paterson, 2020), and a large number of unpublished preprints available on psycharxiv.com suggest that belief in COVID–19 conspiracy theories…”

“However, as we have seen in the case of COVID–19 conspiracy theories, promoting a collectivist mindset may help people resist the temptation of conspiracy theories (Biddlestone et al., 2020).”

“Serious games using similar techniques have already been shown to effectively reduce the impact of misinformation more generally (Maertens et al., 2020).”

“After reading conspiracy theories, people also tend to indicate that their trust in politics has diminished (Einstein & Glick, 2015).”

“For example, people who want to feel unique compared to others are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories (Lantian et al., 2017), as are peoplewho feel that a social group towhich they belong is important but underappreciated by others (Cichocka et al., 2016).”

“In experimental studies, Jolley et al. (2020) found that exposure to anti-Jewish conspiracy theories predicted prejudice and discrimination toward Jews, but also prejudice toward groups who were not part of the alleged conspiracy, such as Americans, Asians, andArabs.”

“Other research has linked anti-Jewish conspiracy beliefs to anti-Semitic attitudes generally (Golec de Zavala & Cichocka, 2012) and discrimination toward Jews (Bilewicz et al., 2013).”

“Douglas and Sutton (2008) found similar results with respect to conspiracy theories about the death of Princess Diana.”

“Others have argued that rumors and gossipmay be detrimental to theworkplace (DiFonzo et al., 1994), and research suggests that conspiracy theories at work may also be more than just trivial ideas shared during break times.”

“Imhoff andBruder (2014) also showed that a tendency toward conspiracy theorizing was associated with prejudice towards high-power groups such as Jews and Americans.”

“Butler et al (1995) also showed that people were less likely to want to engage in politics after watching the film JFK.”

“Climate denial is prominent in the U.S. (Uscinski et al., 2017) and is linked to conspiracy beliefs such as the idea that climate change is a hoax fabricated by climate scientists to win research funding (Douglas & Sutton, 2015).”

“For example, conspiracy beliefs alleging that birth control is a form of genocide against Africans andAfrican Americans are associated with more negative attitudes towards contraception in the U.S. (e.g., Thorburn Bird & Bogart, 2003; Thorburn & Bogart, 2005).”

“For example, conspiracy beliefs alleging that birth control is a form of genocide against Africans andAfrican Americans are associated with more negative attitudes towards contraception in the U.S. (e.g., Thorburn Bird & Bogart, 2003; Thorburn & Bogart, 2005).”

“…willingness to conspire themselves (Douglas & Sutton, 2011), more relaxed attitudes towards gun ownership (Uscinski & Parent, 2014) and are more likely to engage in everyday small crimes such as running red traffic lights and paying for goods with cash to avoid taxation (Jolley et al., 2019).”

“These beliefs appear to be largely driven by feelings of political uncontrollability (Kofta et al., 2020).”

“For example, people who want to feel unique compared to others are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories (Lantian et al., 2017), as are peoplewho feel that a social group towhich they belong is important but underappreciated by others (Cichocka et al., 2016).”

“Specifically, conspiracy theoriesmayprovide a sense of community for peoplewith marginal views (Franks et al., 2017).”

“…conspiracy beliefs significantly decrease people’s intentions to vaccinate (Jolley & Douglas, 2014b), and qualitative research exploring people’s vaccination decisions has found that conspiracy theories play a significant role in these decisions (Craciun & Baban, 2012; Khan & Sahibzada, 2016).”

“…funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. up opportunities for political debate (Miller, 2002), increase accountability (Basham, 2003; Dentith, 2016), encourage greater transparency (Swami & Coles, 2010) and inspire people to mobilize toward collective goals with the intention to…”

“Furthermore, a small number of studies have examined the consequences of conspiracy beliefs in theworkplace. van Prooijen and de Vries (2016) found that believing conspiracies happen in the workplace was associated with increased turnover intentions due to reduced organizational commitment.”

“In experimental studies, Douglas and Leite (2017) found that participants who were asked to imagine a conspiratorial workplace were more likely to want to leave the workplace compared to participants in a control condition.”

“Recently, Rottweiler and Gill (2020) found a link between conspiracy beliefs and violent extremist intentions.”

“A significant number of studies have shown that conspiracy theories about climate change go hand in hand with science denial more generally (e.g., Lewandowsky et al., 2015; Lewandowsky et al., 2013; Uscinski et al., 2017).”

“They further found that believers were less likely to trust medical professionals and were more likely to look elsewhere (e.g., alternative medicines) for treatment (see also Lamberty & Imhoff, 2018).”

“For example, conspiracy beliefs alleging that birth control is a form of genocide against Africans andAfrican Americans are associated with more negative attitudes towards contraception in the U.S. (e.g., Thorburn Bird & Bogart, 2003; Thorburn & Bogart, 2005).”

“…This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. up opportunities for political debate (Miller, 2002), increase accountability (Basham, 2003; Dentith, 2016), encourage greater transparency (Swami & Coles, 2010) and inspire people to…”

“Some scholars view conspiracy theories as a result of people’s attempts to understand social and political reality (Knight, 2001; Radnitz & Underwood, 2017), and therefore as an important ingredient of democratic discourse (Moore, 2016).”

“up opportunities for political debate (Miller, 2002), increase accountability (Basham, 2003; Dentith, 2016), encourage greater transparency (Swami & Coles, 2010) and inspire people to mobilize toward collective goals with the intention to bring about social change (Imhoff & Bruder, 2014; Mari et al.”

“Some scholars view conspiracy theories as a result of people’s attempts to understand social and political reality (Knight, 2001; Radnitz & Underwood, 2017), and therefore as an important ingredient of democratic discourse (Moore, 2016).”

“…conspiracy beliefs significantly decrease people’s intentions to vaccinate (Jolley & Douglas, 2014b), and qualitative research exploring people’s vaccination decisions has found that conspiracy theories play a significant role in these decisions (Craciun & Baban, 2012; Khan & Sahibzada, 2016).”

“Indeed, they have been linked to non-normative political actions such as protests (Imhoff & Bruder, 2014) and illegal actions such as occupying buildings (Mari et al., 2017).”

“Some scholars view conspiracy theories as a result of people’s attempts to understand social and political reality (Knight, 2001; Radnitz & Underwood, 2017), and therefore as an important ingredient of democratic discourse (Moore, 2016).”

“Moreover, political conspiracy theories and misinformation can affect voting decisions, health-related conspiracy theories can influence people’s medical choices (e.g. vaccination), and misinfor-mation and conspiracy theories can fuel conflict between groups (29, 30).”

“nature human behaviour https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02090-5”

“It was also related to blaming out-groups for the pandemic’s outbreak (Douglas, 2021b), which may lead to the reinforcement of prejudice.”

“Both Douglas (2021) and Napolitano and Reuter (2021) do not use a representative study of English language users.”

“Furthermore, emerging conspiracy theories in recent years, like those concerning the origin of the COVID–19 pandemic (Douglas, 2021b) or QAnon in the US (Bloom & Moskalenko, 2021), have gained a considerable number of adherents in a very short time.”

“…least in some cases (Liekefett et al., 2021), raise or sustain distress for a number of reasons, such as the full realization of the bleak contents of the discovered worldview, harmful decisions made on the basis of this view (Douglas, 2021), or scorn from family or friends because of these ideas.”

“Nevertheless, the volume of research into conspiracies has grown steadily in recent years, accruing evidence of their harmful effects (Douglas, 2021) across a broad range of domains including the rejection of the safety and/or efficacy of vaccinations (Jolley et al., 2022).”

“CM has been shown to predict disengagement from normative and engagement in non‐normative political action (Douglas, 2021; Imhoff et al., 2021) and prejudices towards out‐ groups (Bruder et al., 2013).”

“Researchers have stressed that employees who hold conspiracy beliefs are not only likely to experience the depletion of psychological resources, negatively affecting employee emotions and mental health (Fatima & Majeed, 2023), but also to become disengaged in the workplace (Douglas, 2021).”

“…tendencies (Douglas & Sutton, 2011; Hughes & Machan, 2021; Jolley et al., 2019; Kay, 2021; March & Springer, 2019), and negative traits (Douglas, 2021; van Mulukom et al., 2022), and they extend existing research by showing how conspiracy believers are more prone to expect others to…”

“Conspiracist thinking around the COVID- 19 pandemic builds resistance to following scientifically informed public health advice (Douglas 2021).”

“It might therefore be necessary to complement intervention approaches based on presenting counter-conspiracy information (e.g., Orosz et al., 2016) with long-term strategies that address the psychological needs that draw people toward conspiracy theories (see Douglas, 2021).”

“(2020) observed, for example, that conservatives perceived the virus as less dangerous but were at the same time more likely to endorse conspiracy theories about the spread of the virus, which is an attitude linked to prejudice (Jolley et al., 2020; Douglas, 2021).”

“…based on psychological differences such as authori-tarianism and narcissism (e.g., Cichocka, Marchlewska, Golec de Zavala, & Olechowski, 2016; Douglas, 2021; Druckman et al., 2021), some people will be more likely than others to connect their (vaccine) misperceptions to their voting behavior…”

“Knowledge about such effects is important because it speaks to the general question of the risks posed by belief in conspiracy theories (see Douglas, 2021).”

“The reluctance of so many South Africans to get vaccinated highlights the core of the problem: that more studies need to understand the challenges to achieve general vaccination (De Coninck et al. 2021:1; Douglas 2021:1).”

“6 Grimes (2016, 2021), for example, while identifying the lacuna for such expertise – ascertaining the likelihood of a conspiracy theory’s viability – proposes a model to analyze several commonly held conspiracy theories.”

“…executing a direct and intentional plan (Popper 1948; Boltanski 2014) and designing an absolute collusion (Gallo 2019) and secret plot (Pigden 1995; Knight 2003; Hernáiz 2009; Barkun 2013; Boltanski 2014; Douglas et al. 2019; Douglas 2021; Cunningham and Everton 2022) or hidden plot (Gallo 2019).”

“In recent years, conspiracy theories have received increasing attention from researchers, not only for their prevalence (see Duffy & Dacombe, 2023; Orth, 2023) but also for their association with a wide range of negative societal consequences (Douglas, 2021a; Douglas & Sutton, 2025).”

“Their association with communication limited to one’s own echo chamber, which has been observed with other topics of public interest such as climate change, genetically modified organisms, and the origin of pathogens, can lead individuals to make risky health decisions and greatly endanger public health at the populat…”

“Karen Douglas (2021), for instance, provides evidence of both societal harm and harm concerning the subjective wellbeing of the conspiracist subject (see also Douglas et al., 2019; Jolley & Paterson, 2020).”

“Governments around the world, international health organizations, and Centers for Disease Control must fully prepare for unprecedented pandemics in the future through vaccine development of infectious pandemics, and timely dissemination of public health awareness information.”

“Diese in Teilen des Forschungsstandes für verschwörungstheoretische Szenen formulierte These (Douglas 2021; Hornsey et al. 2018; Lewandowsky et al. 2015; Rutjens und Ve´ckalov 2022; Uscinski et al. 2017) ist mit Bezug auf den ViS daher ebenso zu differenzieren wie die These, dass „wer analytisch denkt (und damit, wer…”

“It relies too upon proportionality bias , the belief that big effects have big causes (Douglas, 2021).”

“In this sense, the conspiratorial mind cannot always be considered an innocent, harmless, or healthy form of belief (Douglas, 2021).”

“…by the ability to be self-supportive, the advocates of conspiracy theories show a great “dedication” to their beliefs, and the popular- 378 Dynamics ity of such ideas is rapidly growing due to influential sources of information speaking in favour of conspiracy theories (Douglas, 2021).”

“This approach is frequently employed to intensify or prolong a crisis, particularly in the lead-up to elections, to attract supporters or distract attention from other pressing issues (Douglas 2021; Pirro 2023; Rydgren 2017).”

“Conspiracy beliefs are a topic of great importance for psychological research due to their various negative consequences at individual, intergroup and societal level (Douglas, 2021).”

“” Moreover, several authors (e.g., Douglas, 2021 a; 2021 b) have argued that conspiracy beliefs are a response to psychological needs such as epistemic need (motivation to maintain certainty, consistency, and accuracy about understanding one ’ s environment), existential need (people ’ s desire to…”

“Consider theories positing secret cabals controlling governments, they may not directly incite hatred but they do foster environments of fear and distrust, which can lead to violence Douglas (2021); Jolley et al. (2020).”

“When people feel uncertain due to some unpleasant events, they welcome clear explanations that bring them peace of mind (Douglas, 2021).”

“…related to pro-ecological behaviour and frugality, which aligns with studies showing a negative association between denying anthropogenic climate change and behaviours aimed at safeguarding the natural environment (Gibbon & Douglas, 2021; Haltinner & Sarathchandra, 2021; Wullenkord & Reese, 2021).”

“For instance, American believers of the conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 pandemic was a “ hoax ” perceive the pandemic as less threatening, exhibit a higher refusal of vaccines, and engage substantially less in preventative behaviors such as mask usage (Douglas, 2021; Romer & Jamieson, 2020).”

“…theories however, studies have cautioned that conspiracy mentality can be associated with diminished trust toward authority figures (Schepisi et al., 2024), polarized ideologies (Imhoff et al., 2022), extremist behaviors (Bierwiaczonek et al., 2025) and other negative consequences (Douglas, 2021).”

“The dimension of reach is relevant, as some conspiracy theories may be less or more problematic for democratic societies depending on the types of actions they potentially inspire among their adherents (Douglas, 2021; Jolley et al., 2022).”